Climate activists worldwide are facing increased persecution and criminalization by governments, with some of the most severe measures coming from Europe, according to a United Nations human rights expert.
Governments including those of the U.K., France, Germany, Italy and Spain have introduced measures that criminalize protests and redefine terrorism and organized crime laws to persecute activists, Mary Lawlor, the U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, told the U.N. General Assembly on Oct. 16.
Referring to the EU, Lawlor said “you parade yourself like the best in the world with the EU guidelines on human rights defenders. And we see a shocking lack of implementation of the guidelines in all EU member states and abroad.”
Lawlor presented the results of her report showing that attacks on citizens defending human rights related to climate change are surging. According to the report, nonviolent protesters worldwide have been charged with crimes such as unlawful assembly, common nuisance, qualified disobedience, financing terrorism, and promoting enmity.
“It is creating a vicious cycle: leaving the climate crisis unaddressed, human rights at risk, and human rights defenders deterred from speaking out and taking action,” Lawlor said.
In Germany, for example, Letzte Generation (now Neue Generation) activists face heavier charges than typical for “forming or participating in a criminal association,” the report notes. Their crime: nonviolent acts of civil disobedience like planting trees on golf courses and spray-painting private jets. The group’s website was shut down with a notice labeling it a criminal organization, and its members were sentenced to several years in prison.
The U.K. introduced legislation “specifically to criminalize the peaceful tactics used by climate defenders” under the 2023 Public Order Act, Lawlor said. Locking yourself to an object now carries a six-month prison sentence. Protests disrupting “national infrastructure” such as oil and gas facilities or airports can be punished with a year in prison and “unlimited” fines.
Meanwhile, France’s interior minister accused the environmental activist movement Les Soulèvements de la Terre of “ecoterrorism” in 2022, and then attempted to dissolve the group, which was later overturned by a higher court.
Similar measures occurred in Spain, where environmental groups Extinction Rebellion and Futuro Vegetal were designated as terrorist organizations. Spanish police have also carried out undercover operations targeting at least 12 environmental organizations.
After Lawlor’s presentation, member states questioned her about how to increase protections of these groups.
“You [member states] know what to do and you just don’t do it. I hear a lot of crocodile tears in this room, and I see a lot of serious hand-wringing,” she answered.
“Ensure implementation of protection of human rights defenders and make sure that those who are attacking them face accountability,” she added. “It’s as simple as that. It just needs political will and a determination. I can’t see that determination.”
Banner image: U.N. special rapporteurs Mary Lawlor, left, and Clément Voule in 2023. Image courtesy of U.N. Photo/Evan Schneider.
